in the same breath
2
5.5
- idiom
- Informal
:
en la misma frase
- Otherwise, why constantly mention the video in the same breath as the attack?
- mentioned in the same breath
- said in the same breath
Yes, they will take jabs at Android and then adopt its features in the same breath.
- Yes, they will take jabs at Android and then adopt its features in the same breath.
- That to be prideful was wrong, but in the same breath you would see that narcissistic parent self aggrandize and always make it about themselves.
- And, and you have to look at the, the in the same breath, they say the streets should be free for women.
- I'm I'm and that's in the same breath as illegal drugs, tea, coffee, illegal drugs kind of OK all right.
Examples
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They've left us this story, and we tell ourselves we saw it coming in the same breath we say there was no preventing it.
Fiction book (2000) -
"In the same breath, they mention the Iran-Contra scandal, suggesting that our entire defense policy might be morally, even legally, shady."
Academic text (1992) -
"It's great to be mentioned in the same breath as one of the greatest ever to play the position," Spiller said.
Blog text (21) -
Mention "Houston" and "hurricane" in the same breath, and people immediately think of Harvey.
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I want to be responsible for something that gets talked about in the same breath as the Mona Lisa.
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I think he can be mentioned in the same breath as Ruth, Gehrig, DiMaggio, and Mantle.
Blog text (15) -
I can sing the praises of Dunkin' Donuts in the same breath as the praises of Tim Hortons.
Blog text (22) -
To add salt to the wound, you uttered their name in the same breath as Mariah and Beyoncé.
Blog text (10) -
You cry for the common man, and in the same breath, you curse the crown that protects him!
-
Jerry Brown was in the audience, and White acknowledged him in the same breath that he eulogized his friend.
Synonyms
233
3.4
Shows a contrast with what was just said
Happening at the same time as something else
Antonyms
How Immediate
Surface Forms
Morphology
The phrase maps a literal scenario (saying things within one breath) onto the idea of saying two things almost simultaneously, so a learner who knows 'in', 'the', 'same' and 'breath' can plausibly infer the core meaning of simultaneity. However, the use is a conventionalized metaphor with pragmatic nuance (often highlighting surprise or contradiction) that is not fully predictable from the parts, so it is only partially transparent.
Etymology
The idiom in the same breath comes from the simple image of saying two things while you have only one breath, so both ideas come out together. That's why it means 'almost at the same time', often when the two statements seem opposite.